I think corpcasselbury means what German submariners would have thought of Italian subs. My bet is that part of the answer lies in that the KM subs largely served in the Atlantic and the RM largely in the Med. Ocean going against sea going, harsh environment against temperate. Different requirements and different environment.
A rather suspicious document - 1) The list is in rank order but Italy with rank 4 is at the bottom of the list. 2) The type on the Italy line is very slightly darker. 3) The lack of info on the Italian line compared to the other lines would not be suspicious in itself but when added to points 1) & 2) it is also suspicious. 4) The very round "1 Million" also looks a little suspicious when condidered in combination points 1), 2) & 3). The overall picture to me (as someone who has spent alot of time analysing records etc) is that this document has been doctored. I'm making no comment on the accuracy of the data only that the document doesn't look right. PS. I'm not suggesting you faked it.
That is what I meant. Imagine having to take a large number of submarines in hand to make such a major modification all at once. I know what I would think of Italian submarine design.
The Italians had however submarines that were build for the ocean. Italy took part at the Battle for the Atlantic. IIRC they opperated from Bordeaux.
I hve no idea about those figures. I do know that most Italian subs decided not to fire on convoy's once an escort was noticed. I believe they sended about 38 subs to Bordeaux (and i have no idea where i founded that info but next week my exams are done and thenn i'll try to find some figures )
The Italian subs at the Atlantic formed BETASOM (Beta = Bravo = B B for Bordeaux / SOM is short for Smmel.... (some italian word for submarine)) here's a site with info http://www.regiamarina.net/subs/betasom/history/betasom_us.htm Need more info, just try Betasom on a search engine (i hope you can read italian )